Review of Moana (2016) by Jazzmin M — 10 May 2017

I was really exited for Moana ever since I heard about it and saw that it was based on Polynesian culture, and after seeing it, I think it's a good, fun film. The animation, of course, is wonderful.

It's crisp, clear, and colorful. Disney did a great job as always. The characters are lovable. Moana is a good, strong, and brave female lead. Maui is egotistical but charming. I also thought the story was interesting and full of fun adventure.

It has good comedy and drama, and I really enjoy it when Disney incorporates culture into their films. The music, for the most part is pretty good. My two favorite songs are "How Far I'll Go" and "You're Welcome".

The voice acting is great. Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson do great jobs. However, I do have a few problems with Moana. For one thing, the movie follows the Disney checklist a lot more than most of Disney's other recent efforts, in that it is full of that Disney formula.

The adventurous princess, the strict father, the moment in the movie where the companion gives up on the main character but comes back to help. The comedic animal sidekick, who I thought was pretty pointless.

Yeah, Heihei was useless. But I do give the movie credit for not giving Moana a love interest, which is a first time for Disney. On top of that, I felt that Maui came back to help Moana for no reason.

Sometimes the pacing felt slow, and that song "Shiny" felt completely out of place. But despite all of this, Moana is still a good, fun movie from Disney. It looks great, the characters are likeable, and it gives viewers a taste of Polynesian culture.

I don't think it's one of their strongest efforts, especially after the excellent Zootopia, but it's definitely worth checking out.